Tuesday, June 21, 2011

What is a trip to the beach without a hermit crab race! At one point we had 20 of them in the trench and the kids had named each one.One of the drawbacks of mixing humans with wildlife is the fact that the monkeys are so used to being fed from people that they no longer hunt for themselves. Now they wait in the trees until lunch time and then make their way down to see what they can steal out of someones bag or cooler.

This past weekend we had a 5 day break to allow the students who do not have a student VISA to leave the country in order to re enter as tourists. Our family applied for VISAS when we arrived so we did not have to leave- instead we hopped a bus with another family and took a 3 hour tour to Manuel Antonio National Park. If you ever have opportunity to visit Costa Rica, this park is a must see. The rainforest meets the beautiful sand beach and wildlife is plentiful. Our guide, Freddy had a spotting scope so we were able to see sloths and monkeys and even a toucan close up. He was also able to take photos through the scope - enjoy!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Due to some internet issues we have not been able to update the blog as frequently as we would like. We are now in our 6th week of the 2nd trimester and sometimes (quite honestly) we feel like we have been here forever. It has been just over 6 months since we left Holland and we are mostly settled in.

Second trimester is the time that most people feel settled in. First trimester is about pure survival while learning the ropes of San Jose, grocery shopping, banking, making a house or apartment a home, finding a church and not to be forgotten - studying the language. Second trimester is about focusing on language study. Generally all of those items have been learned by this time and the everyday things of life are easier - a good thing since the language study is harder!